Organic oxidations

Organic oxidations (Organic reductions or organic redox reactions) is the redox reactions that take place with organic compounds. In organic chemistry oxidations (and reduction) are different from ordinary redox reactions because many reactions carry the name, but do not actually involve electron transfer in the electrochemical sense of the word

Rules determining the oxidation number for an individual carbon atom :

• oxidation number -4 for alkanes,
• oxidation number -2 for alkenes, alcohols, alkyl halides.
• oxidation number 0 for alkynes, ketones, aldehydes.
• oxidation number +2 for carboxylic acids,chloroform
• oxidation number +4 for carbon dioxide, tetrachloromethane.

Oxidation Numbers:

It helps you decide whether a reaction is a redox reaction, and if so, what has been oxidised and what reduced

0 0 +2 -2
2Mg+O2→MgO

From the equation above the magnesium has been oxidised and its oxidation number has increased from 0 to +2. The oxygen, which was reduced, decreased its oxidation number from 0 to -2.

When an element Increases its oxidation number, it has been Oxidised.
When an element Decreases its oxidation number, its has been Reduced.